That Was May

It feels like I just posted about our April adventures and it's already now June. May went by in a blur, but here are a few memories.

Jonathan and I have matching hats for our favorite Formula 1 team and we frequently wear them together. So, we decided to step up our game and wore matching outfits with our matching hats. Yeah, we are that couple and we love it!

We took care of our friend Liza's cat a couple of times during May and he actually liked Jonathan more than me! Frequently, Jonathan would be hissed at but now he is the favorite. (I can't say I'm too surprised. Jonathan usually is everyone's favorite.)

A few days later, Jonathan and I went out to dinner at the restaurant just down the street from us. It had been fairly humid all day and as we were eating the wind picked up outside. Unfortunately, we didn't finish dinner in time and we had to walk through the pouring rain to our parking garage for shelter. We joked that we should have asked to leave through their back door since it opens up to our garage. Even though we were wet, we really enjoyed the storm.

Jonathan is slowly but surely getting some much needed dental work done. He's gone through quite a bit, but it wasn't until this latest time that he didn't feel good. Thankfully, he already filled prescriptions for pain killers for previous dental work and so we were able to keep him comfortable. By the next day he was back to normal.

My sweet mom once again sent flowers to me for Mother's Day. They were delivered to our apartment building's office and when I called them to make sure they were there they told me they were delivered but that the flowers were ugly and that I should just leave them there. They were scheming to keep the flowers for themselves! They most certainly were not ugly!

The day before Mother's Day, Jonathan and I decided to go to the temple. There was a lot going on at that time for us from me finishing up the semester to Jonathan needing some guidance with work to strained relationships and more! I love how spending time in the temple helps put our problems into perspective. They don't go away, but there is a clarity that comes.

I loved the Mother's Day messages on the signs along the freeway. Instead of going straight back home, we decided to go through a few smaller towns starting with Kyle.

Unfortunately the pie shop in Kyle was already closed for the day. I guess we will just have to go back another day!

I love driving on the country roads and the beautiful Texas scenery. 

We had a delicious dinner at Kimberly's in Wimberley. Yes, it is in Wimberley, Texas. Yes, it was delicious!

The wildflowers are still amazing. I had Jonathan pull over so I could take some pictures of this massive field covered in firewheels.

It's sights like these that make the hot, humid summers tolerable!

Then we made it back to our city. I love that we can easily be in the country even though we live in such a big city.

On Sunday, my primary kids made little heart notes for their moms. That gave me an idea to make a note for my mom.

I chose green paper because that's one of her favorite colors. I feel so spoiled because I have such a wonderful and selfless mother. She truly is the mother I need!

We frequently have cute little birds landing on our ledge.

I don't have any pictures, but I finished off this semester fairly strong. My astronomy class was the easiest science class I think I've ever taken and Spanish I was crazy hard. I've been wanting to kick start learning Spanish and this helped a lot. I have a better understanding of the grammar structure and how to conjugate verbs. My Spanish profesora was wonderful and very helpful, though I am grateful that it is over!

On the last Sunday in May, we had pizza and popcorn for dinner. When my parents were first married pizza and popcorn was the meal they had every Sunday. That same day, we decided to go to a Memorial Day ceremony. It took a bit of work finding a website that had a list of where they would be held throughout Texas, but I found it. We decided to go to the one held in Georgetown at the Veteran's Memorial Plaza in Sun City.

The program began with a flyover. The men in the color guard were dressed as colonial soldiers. A few even had the big buckled shoes.

There were probably around 1,000 people there and when the band played the National Anthem the crowd was quietly singing along. It was spontaneous and I got emotional. So much of what we are exposed to is divisive and spewing with anger and this was the exact opposite. It was powerful and unifying.

The main speaker just so happened to be United States Senator Ted Cruz. His speech was very powerful. He explained the origin of the common phrase there are no atheists in foxholes. It started with the Four Immortal Chaplains. I don't believe I had ever heard this story before. There was a transport ship going across the Atlantic Ocean that was hit with a torpedo in the middle of the night. There were four chaplains aboard the ship: one Catholic priest, one Jewish rabbi, and two Protestant preachers. As the ship was sinking, they were on the top deck helping hand out life jackets and eventually each giving their own to others. All four of them were calm in the face of so much chaos  and fear surrounded them. It is said that they were last seen circled together praying as the ship went down. This story has stayed on my mind. These men embodied their religious beliefs as they focused on serving others even at the cost of their own lives. They didn't care if the men believed everything they did. They simply helped those around them.

You can see Ted Cruz in the middle of the crowd.

We are planning on taking the time to either attend a Memorial Day ceremony or do something special to mark this day. It isn't just an excuse to not go to work and go shopping for some good discounts. The man who gave the benediction talked about how we honor those that died by living a joyful life and are actively involved in using the freedoms that these men and women died in an effort to preserve them. I am so grateful we took the time to remember what the true cost of freedom is and the necessity of continuing to preserve it. 

After the ceremony, Jonathan and I got a little pot to plant cilantro in. Jonathan loves making tacos and now wants to grow our own cilantro. Fingers crossed that the birds don't eat it!

The next day, we got some very exciting mail! At the beginning of the month, we ordered a full family portrait from an etsy shop called Dreamy Daffodil. Unfortunately, the envelope was a little bent so I stacked a bunch of book on top of it to help straiten it out. I waited until Jonathan came home from work to open it and it is PERFECT!!!

Here's what I wrote about it.

I am so grateful for all the love and support we've received especially as we've slowly started sharing more and more about our children. My life is not complete without them and they still have a significant portion of my heart with them. There are still plenty of days where the grief of living without them here is overpowering, but there are even more days that I have a grateful heart for the memories that we've made with them. I love having a visual reminder that they are part of our family and that it is only through Jesus Christ that I have the hope of being with them again.

May was a good month and gave us an excellent jumping off point for this summer!